


All in Good Time

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Pet Sounds [4]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-04
Updated: 2012-12-04
Packaged: 2017-11-20 05:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/582026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Just tell me the truth…it’s not my breath is it?  I always try to make sure my breath is OK but I'm never sure.  It’s not as if I can smell it myself.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	All in Good Time

**Author's Note:**

> Please don’t think me crazy for falling in love with the idea of two dogs falling in love, but I so am.

Dave looked over at Nicky sleeping. Then he looked out the window and saw the quarter moon move over the top of Doc Rawlings’ house. Dave checked on Nicky one more time. The kid had been a good companion since Rossi came to live with the family. He’d been a gift for Nicky’s eighth birthday…the boy was now eleven. 

Alex had been a gift for Nicky’s twin sister, Billie. The Copelands were a good family. The mother and father had some problems in their marriage but seemed to work it out. Dave didn’t concern himself too much with the adults but he checked in on them once in a while because he knew their behavior affected the twins. As human kids go, and Rossi had seen his share, Billie and Nicky were cool. 

Sure that Nicky was asleep; Dave escaped the room with little noise. No one was in the hallway, which was a good thing. He figured both Alex and little Spencer were asleep in Billie’s room. He had no idea why the family got a puppy when they had two great dogs already. Dave felt threatened at first, humans liked to get new things when they were ready to get rid of the old. 

But so far, everything was fine. The three dogs got along OK; Dave just did his own thing. Alex was a bit too straight laced for him. She never wanted to get dirty, dig things up, or drag dead things around. Spencer was a bit more adventurous but he was hanging out with cats more than anything lately. Rossi wasn’t ever going to do that.

Downstairs, Dave went to the kitchen and out the doggie door. At one point the humans were going to get one of those doors they could lock at night. That would've ruined Rossi’s night adventures. It wasn’t as if he had much of a say in what the humans decided but for some reason the plan never went down. He was happy about that. 

Out in the fresh night air, Rossi inhaled deeply. Then he went on his way. The burbs were quiet but that wasn’t surprising. During the daytime there were kids everywhere and cars and activity. By evening it slowed and when the streetlights came on, they pulled up the sidewalks. That’s when the pets really got their run of the place. 

He went over to the Belle’s house; it was dark there. Sneaking into their fence wasn’t as easy as it was at his house. Dave had to be careful not to hurt himself. When he finally got in, he saw Erin sitting under the big tree. 

As soon as he saw her it made him smile. He tried to be cool but what was the point. He was smitten, it might just be better to enjoy it. Erin had something with her. The closer he got, he saw it was a big clock on a flat piece of paper.

“Hi.” He said.

“Hello.” She smiled. “Sit with me.”

“OK.” Rossi settled down beside her. He inhaled the scent of her, loving the way she smelled. “What's with the clock?”

“If you wanted to, I was going to teach you how to tell time.”

“It’s a turn on that you're brilliant you know.”

“Do you ever say anything that isn’t macho?” Erin asked.

“I'm not macho.”

“Aren't you?”

“No.” Dave shook his head. “Macho dogs are all talk. I'm an action man.”

“Oh lord.” She rolled her eyes. “Are you serious?”

“I can take you on any adventure you'd like.”

“Are you telling me that you don’t want to learn to tell time?” Erin asked.

“Actually I do. I'm excited to learn something new. I’ll teach you something as well, to thank you.”

That sounded dangerous to Erin. It actually made her shiver. She’d never been with a male dog before and it wasn’t that she was afraid of David but she didn’t want to be compromised by a cad. She had standards. She wasn’t sure yet if David fit into them. Time was what she needed and him teaching her something didn’t sound as if she had it.

“What's wrong?” Dave asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I can smell the nervousness on you.”

“I'm not nervous.”

“It’s OK to be nervous.” He said.

“I'm seriously not nervous.”

“OK, if you say so.”

“I do say so.” Erin nodded. “Now let’s get to this clock.”

She took the opportunity to move a little further away from him. Then she turned both clock hands to 12 with her paws. When Erin looked at Dave it was a relief to see he was looking at the clock and not her.

“This is noon, but it’s also midnight.” She said.

“Why do humans have to make things so difficult?” he asked.

“I don't know.” She laughed. “But you're right. Tracy is struggling with this too but we’re learning together.”

“How do you know which is which?”

“Well if its noon the sun is out. If its midnight its dark.”

“That’s good.” Dave nodded.

“Now all other times correspond to their number on the clock.” Her paws were moving again. “There’s one, two, then three, and four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven. Each time happens twice a day.”

“Why?” Dave asked.

“I don't know that either but it does. Its going to take some time to get used to, figuring out which time is which, but we can both do it with hard work.”

“What about those funny in between times.” Dave gently moved his paws over hers and moved the hands on the clock. “What time is it if I move it here?”

“Um, that’s 11:35.” Erin replied.

“What? Where did the 35 come from? It’s not eleven o’seven o’clock or something like that?”

“Well 60 minutes equals an hour. And each of these numbers represents time on that scale too.”

“There is no way that humans learn how to do this so young. I'm old and feel like I'm never going to learn. I can just look at the numbers on the blue clock in Nicky’s room. His doesn’t look like this, there are just numbers.”

“Clocks come in both ways. There are also some with Roman numerals on it.”

“What the hell is a Roman numeral?” Dave asked.

“They're letters that make numbers.” She said.

“No they're not.” The retriever laughed. He laughed so hard he shook. “You're pulling my chain, Erin.”

“I'm not. I know its weird, but it’s true. I listen to all of Tracy’s lessons and I'm taking in as much information as I can. Humans talk really fast.”

“How do you understand them so well, you're pretty young?”

“I'm almost three now. I just follow Tracy around and take it all in. Most people don’t notice me, just think I'm a dog.”

“You're more than just a dog.” Rossi moved a little closer to her on the grass. He nuzzled his nose against her neck and felt her shiver again. “Believe me.”

“We shouldn’t do that.” she said.

“We haven’t done anything.”

“I've never…David…” Erin was shaking again.

“OK, I'm backing off.” he got the message loud and clear. He wasn’t used to hearing it but he backed off. They were having a nice time and he didn’t want to ruin that.

“I like you.” she said.

“That’s good news I think. Don’t make it sound so horrible.”

“Its not.” Erin smiled. “I just want to get to know you better. I don't want you to get on top of me and then run.”

“Whoa, I am not the hit and run type. I mean, I've had my fun but…I totally respect you.”

“I've heard that before.”

“Who broke your heart, Erin?” Dave asked. “Who broke your trust?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She shook her head.

“It matters to me.”

“It was a lifetime ago.” Erin whispered. “It was before I came here; before I met you. I'm sure all of us have stories to tell.”

“I want to listen if you want to talk.”

“I don’t…not about that.”

“Well, have you ever caught a dead bird before?” Dave asked. “I do it all the time for fun.”

“Eww David, don’t be gross.”

“I just wanted to freak you out.” he smirked.

“Stop that.” she hit him with her paws and laughed.

“I wanna kiss you.”

“I should probably go inside.” Erin moved back again.

“Just tell me the truth…it’s not my breath is it? I always try to make sure my breath is OK but I'm never sure. It’s not as if I can smell it myself.”

“Your breath is fine…I promise.”

“Can I see you again tomorrow?” Dave asked.

“I'm not sure what Tracy and I are doing.”

“But you like me right?”

“David…”

“OK, OK. I wish you could stay out a little longer. It’s a beautiful night and we could talk about the stars.”

“You know about the stars?” Erin asked.

“Not really but I’m awesome at making up stories. I bet mine are better than the real ones.”

“I bet they are.”

“I don’t like to brag but I am quite the impressive dog. My breed is very impressive.”

“I've heard that from you on more than one occasion.” She smiled.

“I find honesty is the best policy…most of the time.”

Erin moved closer to him. He was a big dog, at least twice the size she was if not more. She had to get up on her hind legs but she did, and she gave him Eskimo kisses. Then she nuzzled him. It felt really nice, and it felt right. It felt totally right.

Dave felt his temperature rise and his leg start to shake. He didn’t move. It wasn’t that he couldn’t move, on the contrary, but he didn’t want to scare her. It felt good, it felt perfect, but his inner instinct was saying go, go, go. This was when he usually pounced. He never pounced uninvited though.

He needed to take it slow with Erin…let her make some first moves. That wasn’t his normal way but the normal way wasn’t going to work this time. A challenge never hurt anyone. Sometimes the really challenging things were the ones worth fighting for the hardest. And a nuzzle from her was a pretty good reward for his patience.

“Mmm,” he sighed, nuzzling even more.

“You're going to get me in trouble.” she whispered, gently licking his face.

“How so?” Dave’s voice sounded so far away when he asked.

“I'm not sure how but I'm definitely sure it’s going to happen.”

“Trouble has a lot of definitions. Some of them are fun.”

“Goodnight, David.” Erin got down on all fours. She needed to take the clock and get inside for bed.

“Whenever I see you again it'll be like we were never apart.”

“Soon, OK?”

“OK.” Dave nodded.

She picked the clock up in her teeth and went back into the house. Dave watched her push the sliding glass door open and slip inside. Then he saw her closing the door. With the heavy curtains pulled he couldn’t see anything else. But he sat there for a while. 

He had to get home too. If Nicky woke up and was looking for him there might be questions; there might be trouble. So off he went. This time he didn’t bother with the silly fence, Dave went around to the front and down the driveway. No one was going to see him anyway…he hoped. 

As he was about to step out on the curb, quickly approaching lights made him jump back. He crouched down beside one of the parked cars hoping not to be seen. Someone was driving fast and a little out of control. Lance Wagner was probably drunk again. No one else around here drove like that except Mr. Wagner when he was drinking. Dave hoped he hadn't hurt anyone tonight. 

Crossing the street, the retriever moved the loose slats in his own fence and got back into the yard. In a matter of moments he was back through the doggie door and on home turf. Tonight was awesome. Being with her just made him feel things that he didn’t even know the words for. 

They were good feelings too; feelings he didn’t want to go away. If that meant taking it slow then Dave was going to take it slow. He’d think about how changing his approach to some things could make the whole experience better for both of them. If he dreamed about her tonight it would be the perfect end for the evening.

***


End file.
